Microorganisms associated with milk spoilage in Southeastern Nigeria

Commercially canned pasteurized and unpasteurized milks obtained from Fulani women were exposed to adverse condition, which caused them to become contaminated. The pH of pasteurized milk ranged from 4.5 to 7.2 with a mean of 5.9, while that obtained from the Fulani woman (unpasteurized milk) ranged from 4.5 to 6.6 with a mean of 5.6. The plate counts of the pasteurized milk had an average count of 1.15x105 while that of unpasteurized milk was 2.27x105. The microorganisms isolated from the two samples included Streptococcus spp Lactobacillus spp, Bacillus spp, Pseudomonas spp, Sptaptylococcus spp, Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhi, Clostridium spp and Shigella spp. Adequate pasteurization at the right temperature is necessary before the milk reaches the final consumers and will generally reduce the number of bacteria in milk. Keywords : Milk, pasteurized, microorganisms, fermented, mammals > Animal Production Research Advances Vol. 2 (4) 2006: pp. 228-230